


Meta about Hogwarts Class Schedule

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Embedded Images, Gen, Meta, School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-11-05 00:57:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17908985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: What it says on the tin





	1. First and Second

**Author's Note:**

> Because obsessive is just another word for detail-oriented, right?

Okay,

So I was writing a fic, and wanted to get the Firstie’s schedule correct as best I could. Of course, I’m well aware that JKR herself has not been the most consistent with that kind of thing through the books, but I wanted to get it as “right” as possible.

So first of all, Sept 1st back in 1991 was a Sunday, so the first day of classes, Sept 2nd, would have been a Monday. This means that Harry’s first week of classes, as he describes them, goes roughly in order.

Of course, knowing which order the classes goes in is only partly helpful. First we need to know what the basic schedule is like.

First, the length of the classes. It is implied that classes are roughly an hour long, and double periods are two. This can be deduced from both PS and CoS. In the first DADA lesson of CoS, Lockhart assigns them a quiz. “Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.” (CoS pg 100). He then released the pixies, who began to cause havoc. A bit into the havoc, we are told, “Lockhart gulped and dived under his own desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a second later as the chandelier gave way. The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the exit.” (CoS pg 102).

Unless Lockhart skimming through the quizzes and then being harassed by pixies took an hour and a half, we can assume that roughly half an hour (possibly 20 minutes) passed, implying a class period that is an hour or so long. It might be something like 50 minutes to allow a passing period, or classes might be a full hour and just start at staggered times throughout the day.

Similarly, we get a clue from Harry’s first potions class in PS. The period starts with Snape lecturing them on potions and then questioning Harry. “Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs…” (PS pg 110). This implies that they have been working at this potion for a while, considering the prep work listed, such as gathering, weighing, and preparing ingredients. Neville’s potion then explodes, he is injured, and sent to the Hospital Wing. After this, JKR writes, “As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low.” (PS pg 111)

This clearly shows that an hour passed _after_ Neville’s accident. With the earlier precedent that a single class period is probably an hour long, and the decent amount of class already described before Neville’s accident, it is logical to assume that a double is an hour long (or possibly 1:50, to account for passing periods). For my purposes, I’m going to assume that classes are an even hour for a single, and two hours for a double, and shift the start times to fit, instead of cutting time from the classes themselves.

With this length established, the question arises as to the actual layout of a given day. The implication of a double is that there is no break between periods, as one is certainly not shown in the above Potions scene. This would imply that in the morning, at least, there are two periods in a row before the students get a morning break.

We do know that they get the break because of a later scene about Norbert. “Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other two during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the three of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest.” (PS pg 187)

This makes it fairly clear that they do indeed have a morning break. We also know that this is not a long break, as in a full period length, because of another comment just pages before that. “Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks.” (PS pg 172) Now, presumably the break is slightly longer than ten minutes, but that is the only amount of time, between getting to and from the library, that can be spared for actual research. For now, I am going to make a guess that these break periods are somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes long.

So, we know that they have breaks, plural, and at least one in the morning. It is specifically a break, and not a free period, and thus a shorter length. However, they are able to have a double period first thing in the morning without a break in the middle of the two periods.

This would seem to indicate that the schedule, at least, goes as follows:

Breakfast  
Period 1  
Period 2  
Break  
Period 3  
Period 4/Lunch

It is possible that there is another double-length space after the morning break, or possible that it is only a single before lunch.

Now, according to both the HP Lexicon and the Wiki, breakfast begins at 7:30 and classes at 9:00. Of course, neither one links to a source for that information, and I’ve yet to find it in the first few books. I’m going to assume that information is correct, as it also correlates to this muggle school schedule I found at a basic google.

 

If this is the case, then the basic Hogwarts morning would go as follows:

9:00 Period 1  
10:00 Passing  
10:05 Period 2  
11:05 Break (15 min)  
11:20 Period 3  
12:20 Period 4/Lunch

The Lexicon also states that afternoon classes begin at 1, but again give no source. It is possible that they do indeed have only three periods, followed by lunch, but I’m not willing to completely rule it out based on the Lexicon alone.

Further, it is worth noting that the HP Lexicon states that Hogwarts students only have two periods in the morning, separated by a break. And either one or two classes in the afternoon. However, I disagree. In CoS, we have the Gryffindors scheduled one morning with a double of Herbology, followed by a “quick” break and then Transfiguration. Clearly, either both of the Lexicon’s periods must be doubles, or there must really be three periods. Similarly, when the teachers are escorting the students around at the end of CoS, we get three classes in a row, with Snape taking them to Herbology after Potions and Sprout taking them to DADA after that. Clearly, there must be a time of day wherein three classes happen together between a meal, either in the morning or the afternoon. Clearly, the Lexicon is wrong in that instance. Thus, it’s claims about times must also be taking with a pinch of salt.

So, if we can’t prove what time lunch starts and stops, what about the school day itself? Now, schools in the US tend to start at 8, instead of 9, which would clearly allow for that fourth period before lunch, but from what google tells me, this is not really the case in the UK. While Hogwarts could fit in the fourth period and then have lunch after 1pm, as did the muggle school schedule I found, I’m going to give Harry and co a break in that respect, and only give them 3 periods in the morning.

Thus, we turn to the afternoon. The biggest question is, when does the day end?

We have several indicators here: his first week, Harry receives a letter from Hagrid that says, “Dear Harry, I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?” (PS pg 108) We then, in a rare example of exact timing, get the following “At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds.” (PS pg 111).

This seems to establish that, either classes are done at 3, or that classes are done later, but the Gryffindor firsties have that time off. I actually have arguments for both, but I think also a way to reconcile them. In PS, the first argument for the firsties having all afternoons off comes from the flying lessons. “Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday [...] At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson.” [PS pg 113-5] So in addition to being free at 3 on Friday, the firsties apparently are also free at that time on Thursday. One could easily then make an argument that classes end at 3.

However, in the midst of this 3:30 flying lesson, McGonagall intervenes. “Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside. "Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"” (PS pg 119) This means that, at some point after 3:30, a fifth year like Wood is still in class. Whether this is at the tail end of a 3pm(ish) class, or the beginning of a 4pm(ish) one is unknown.

Furthermore, as second years, the trio has a class that ends right before dinner. ““I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony,” Ron told Harry and Hermione as they fought their way through the teeming corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off their bags before dinner.” (CoS pg 152) Unless they are eating dinner at 3pm, this would imply that second years, at least, have classes that end closer to 5 or 6.

As they take fewer classes than the older years, and as they are just getting used to Hogwarts, it would make sense for the first years to have a shorter schedule, and for the second years to have few later-day classes, while those in the electives have more.

With that in mind, I’m going to call it, and decide that, as firsties, at least, Hogwarts classes end at 3. (Except Astronomy) Thus, our basic daily schedule continues as such:

9:00 Period 1  
10:00 Passing  
10:05 Period 2  
11:05 Break (15 min)  
11:20 Period 3  
12:20 Lunch (30 min)  
12:50 Period 4  
1:50 Passing  
1:55 Period 5  
2:55 Break (15 min)*  
3:10 Period 6

As Harry and Ron go to Hagrid’s “At five to three” (PS pg 111) this would seem to imply that the arrangement of passing periods has them finishing class at 2:55, instead of 3 on the nose. As this fits with our earlier schedule to make a neat half hour lunch, I think this fits. This also gives us a period for the upper years from 3:10-4:10, fitting Wood’s timeline. There is also the potential for a seventh period from 4:15-5:15, getting out just in time for dinner, as is implied in that CoS bit above.

We also get a little more confirmation of the shape of the day from the scenes where Harry gets his new broom. It arrives during breakfast, and we’re told “They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class...” (PS pg 131) However, after a few quick confrontations and a jog up to Gryffindor, they are out of time. This suggests that there is no free time between breakfast and the first class of the day, but also that breakfast is long enough for all of this to happen _after_ the owls arrive. A breakfast period spanning 7:30 or 7:45 until 9:00 seems reasonable.

We also know that dinner is done by seven, giving a better estimate of the minimum end of classes. With the broom, McGonagall sends a note saying “Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session.” (PS pg 131) Assuming that this meeting is, at the earliest, _right_ after dinner, and assuming that dinner, like breakfast, is at least an hour long, then classes, at the _latest,_ can end at 6pm.

However, there is reason to suspect that dinner, or at least, the time between dinner and seven, is a bit longer. “He bolted his dinner that evening without noticing what he was eating, and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last. [...] As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field.” (PS pg 132) Of course, this is subjective, but even by bolting down dinner, I would think that 7 “drawing nearer” would suggest that the dinner period is longer than an hour. If we assume that dinner takes about fifteen minutes, then running up to Gryffindor and opening the box takes another 15-20, then the boys inspecting the broom takes about 10-15, we’re already at 45 minutes, and about time for Harry to head back downstairs. If dinner actually began at 5:30, then this would only place us at 5:15, and Harry would still have about 30 minutes of antsy waiting until 7 drew near.

So, if dinner is an hour and a half, just like breakfast, then dinner would start (and classes must end) by 5:30. As my extended schedule above ends at 5:15, with enough time to return to a dorm before dinner, this seems to fit perfectly.

So, with the day fairly well established, when do the firsties have classes? We have very little information for the Gryffindors, and even less for the other Houses, but here’s what we do have.

The easiest thing to establish, oddly, is Astronomy. It is, in fact, the first clue that PS even gives us. “They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets.” (PS, pg 106). Of course, that gets directly contradicted later in the same book during the Norbert fiasco: “Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open.” (PS, pg 189)

I choose, however, to go with the first one as correct, and assume that the second one has the day of the week wrong. However, this brings up an interesting question. If the firsties have Astronomy on Wednesday, can we assume that the other years have this class on other nights? Second years on Monday, fifth years on Tuesday, and so on? There are, of course, seven days a week and seven years, provided that two years don’t mind meeting on the weekends. Or perhaps two years (NEWT students, maybe) have classes on weekdays, but after one of the other years. Maybe the firsties are Wednesday at midnight, followed by the sixth years at one.

But wait! We already established that the Gryffindor firsties have potions, and _only_ potions with the Slytherins. Meaning that they do not share an Astronomy class. This means that the Astronomy classes are also divided into two units per year (until NEWT level, presumably). This means that there is a second firstie class some other day that week, and in fact a total of 12 Astronomy classes to be squeezed into the schedule. Unless some of those classes are on weekends, some poor students will have to be up at two or three am for this class! It isn’t relevant to the first year schedule, but it is interesting. ;)

The next clearest class is Potions, as PS states, “Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. "What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge. "Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. (PS pg 107) So we know that Friday morning is a double with the Slytherins.

With regards to Friday, we also know that the Gryffs do _not_ have a free period at the end of the day, or Harry and Ron would be heading off to see Hagrid _before_ three. So they must have _something_ in their fourth and fifth periods.

That said, it is highly likely that their third period is actually free. Right before Christmas, we get the following: “When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it. [...] So the three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.” (PS pg 155-6) After the fight with Malfoy and the trek to the Great Hall, plus a conversation with Hagrid, Hermione says, “And that reminds me -Harry, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library." (PS pg 157)

While they could have used their short morning break to talk to Hagrid and then had a morning class, then Hermione would be chiding them about going to class. The only way they would have a half an hour left before lunch would be if they had that period free.

Of course, there are always contradictory scenes. We know that Quidditch takes place on Saturday, so “The day before Harry's first Quidditch match” should be a Friday. We have also established that the Gryffs are free for the day by the afternoon break, and that their morning break is immediately after Potions. However, PS says, “The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping.” (PS pg 144)

As this is a Friday, he should either have been limping in their class this morning, and Harry should have noticed it then. Or Snape should have _just_ gotten this injury. In this is the break directly after their Potions class, then Snape has no time to get the injury and get outside during their break, nor any reason to cross a courtyard when going between the 3rd floor and the dungeons. If this is, perhaps, their free period, which is a break of sorts, then Snape could perhaps manage the timing, but again his crossing the courtyard makes no sense. Nor does the need for them to spend the entire hour free period between their break and lunch outside in the cold.

If this is the afternoon break, then Snape does have slightly more time to tangle with Fluffy, but by the afternoon break the trio should be done for the day. Why are they outside in the cold when they are free to go inside for the rest of the afternoon/evening? Indeed, why would they be outside at all, unless directly before/after a Herbology class? If they were third years, and in a break between Herbology and Care, then not wanting to troop all the way back inside would make sense, but as firsties Herbology is their only outdoor class. Surely, with the possible exception of the dungeons, the castle is warmer than any courtyard, and as the bluebell flame is in a jar, they don’t need to stay outside for fear of burning down the school…

But I digress. Back to firstie schedules!

Our next clearest day is Thursday, thanks to two scenes. The first is the above scene about Potions. PS continues, “Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.” (PS pg 107) Thus, they must have Transfiguration at _some_ point on Thursday.

Further elaborating on this day is Halloween, which in 1991 was a Thursday. “On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly...” (PS pg 136) So we know that they have Charms on Thursday as well. And to further clarify things, after charms we are told, “Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon.” (PS pg 137)

This is promising for a number of reasons. The first is that we can be fairly certain that Charms is the first class that day. There is also a second morning class, before the afternoon classes or free periods. There is not, however, a second morning class mentioned after Charms, which might indicate that either Charms that morning is a double, taking up periods 1 and 2, with the second morning class slotted into period 3, or that the Charms class is a single period, with only one other morning period filled, and the other free.

We also know, if not the day, the time of two other classes. “Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: It's hatching. Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it. Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other two during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the three of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest.” (PS pg 187)

Aside from the day of the week, this scene is actually very informative. We know that Herbology is right after breakfast, and we know that it goes right up until the morning break. This means that, whichever day this is, this Herbology period must be a double, taking up both periods 1 and 2.

We also get another hint as to their morning schedule: “The next morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Harry and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Sorcerer's Stone if they had one.” (PS pg 176)

This tells us that, some morning of the week, they have DADA. Now, it is not clear which of the three morning periods this class takes place in. However, it is certainly reasonable to think it is the first, otherwise they would have continued that conversation in whatever class preceded DADA.

Unfortunately, we get very little else from Harry’s description of his first week’s classes. There are a few highlights, however. “Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology...” (PS pg 106) This tells us that Herbology meets three times a week. We have already established that one of those periods is a double, so they must have at least four periods worth of Herbology, assuming that the other two meetings aren’t also doubles.

“We learn that “Easily the most boring class was History of Magic,” and that “Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.” (PS pg 106) However, neither of these gives us a clue to Harry’s actual schedule, unless he is reciting his classes in the order he first encounters them. As this litany is given before the first Friday and it’s Potions class, this is a possibility.

Along these lines, we also get the following about Transfiguration, “Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.” (PS pg 106) Now, here first could imply that there are more Transfiguration classes to come in the following weeks, but again, as this scene takes place Friday morning, I believe it implies that this happened in the first of multiple classes that week.

Finally, we get DADA. “The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke.” (PS pg 107) The fact that people had been looking forward to this class could imply that it was later in the week, perhaps on Thursday? Again, their first unit of it had to happen before Friday morning, at least.

That also brings up an interesting question. How many units of each class do the firsties have? You would assume that they would attend each class equally, but that is not the case. Potions, it is established, they only have a double in, and no other periods. So they only get two units of Potions a week. However, Herbology meets three different times, and one of those is a double, so they have at least four units of Herbology a week. The other classes likely range between two and four, with perhaps Flying only being a single hour.

Given the late hour of it (really, the stars are out at, like, 9pm. Why do they need to wait until midnight?), it is likely that Astronomy is, at most, a double, and possibly a single.

As for the others, they are anybody’s guess.

Now, with those being the only definitive clues from PS, there are a few routes we can take. We can just randomly assign the classes to the remaining spaces and call it a day. Or, we can make another small leap in logic and keep searching. The leap is to assume that, generally speaking, the Hogwarts timetable doesn’t change much from year to year. Specifically, we assume that the second year schedule we see in CoS would also have been the second year schedule in PS, and thus we can eliminate some class options for the firsties because the second years are being taught by those teachers at those times.

I chose to make this leap and keep going.

Of course, this requires creating a second years’ schedule:

For the second years, we can make a few assumptions about their schedule, based on the classes we _know_ the firsties are in. Next, we can look at the actual second year timetable. Fortunately, because of the teachers having to escort them from class to class in the later sections, we actually have a lot more information to work with here.

But first, the first day of school. We know that Sept 1st was a Tuesday in 1992, so the first day of school must be a Wednesday. And that day is very nicely laid out for us.

“But he had no time to dwell on this; Professor McGonagall was moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out course schedules. Harry took his and saw that they had double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs first.” (CoS pg 89) So first is a double Herbology; perfect.

“By the end of the class, Harry, like everyone else, was sweaty, aching, and covered in earth. Everyone traipsed back to the castle for a quick wash and then the Gryffindor’s hurried off to Transfiguration.” (CoS pg 94) There’s our morning break and then our third period! Also, as only the Gryffs hurried off, we can assume that they don’t share this class with the Huffs.

““What’ve we got this afternoon?” Harry asked, hastily changing the subject. “Defense Against the Dark Arts,” said Hermione at once. “Why,” demanded Ron, seizing her schedule, “have you outlined all Lockhart’s lessons in little hearts?” (CoS pg 95) After lunch we’ve got DADA. And, side note, _all_ of Lockhart’s lessons implies that they have several of them, not something like the solitary double of potions that the firsties had.

So there’s our Wednesday!

One thing to note, however, is that the last scene is also the one I quoted above about them putting away their bags before dinner and after their last class, as a partial suggestion that this DADA class is actually in a sixth or seventh period. Looking at the phrasing here, however, I’m not too sure about that.

A few pages later, we learn “Ron’s wand was still malfunctioning, surpassing itself on Friday morning by shooting out of Ron’s hand in Charms” (CoS pg 104). So we know that they’ve got Charms at some point on Friday morning!

Another good example is this: ““What we need,” said Hermione briskly as Thursday afternoon’s double Potions lesson looked nearer, “is a diversion.”” (CoS pg 186) So we can slot in Thursday afternoon for a double Potions, and of course it is always with Slytherin!

By checking out the First of June and finding that it was a Tuesday, we can fill in another class.

“But something happened in their first lesson, Transfiguration, that drove the Chamber of Secrets out of their minds for the first time in weeks. Ten minutes into the class, Professor McGonagall told them that their exams would start on the first of June, one week from today.” (CoS pg 283) If this is a week from the first, then it is also a Tuesday. And it looks like Transfiguration is their first class!

The next one is a bit tricky, however. “Three days before their first exam, Professor McGonagall made another announcement at breakfast.” (CoS pg 284) We know the first exam is Tuesday, so three days earlier would be… Saturday. However, they are being led to classes.

“Midmorning, when they were being led to History of Magic by Gilderoy Lockhart.” (CoS pg 287) and ““Let’s go to the staffroom,” said Harry, jumping up. “She’ll be there in ten minutes. It’s nearly break.” (CoS pg 292) This is clearly a class day, with History during period 2, so it can’t be a Saturday. (And, whichever day it is, no one can have DADA during that period as well, because during that break period, we get this: “But it was Lockhart, and he was beaming. “So sorry -- dozed off -- what have I missed?” (CoS pg 293)

So we have a floating second period, unsure which day it actually goes on.

Moving on, we get a similar headache for Valentines Day. Valentines that year, in real life, was a Sunday. And yet, here they are going to class. “All day long, the dwarfs kept barging into their classes to deliver valentines, to the annoyance of the teachers, and late that afternoon as the Gryffindors were walking upstairs for Charms, one of the dwarfs caught up with Harry.” (CoS pg 237) So we’ve got another floating period, and this one appears to be period 5 or more likely 6, as it is “late” in the afternoon.

Now, we come to the first contradiction: Wednesday. We already established that September second was a Wednesday, and thus the first day schedule should apply to it. However, we then get this: “Not until the following Wednesday did they find out. Harry had been held back in Potions, where Snape had made him stay behind to scrape tubeworms off the desks. After a hurried lunch, he went upstairs to meet Ron in the library. [...] The bell rang. Ron and Hermione led the way to History of Magic, bickering.” (CoS pg 146-8)

But we already established a Wednesday with Transfiguration right before lunch and DADA right after!

Well, I think this is one of those instances of JKR acting like every September 2nd is a Monday, regardless of reality. And as Monday is the only day we don’t have a single class identified on, this is a logical switch.

As a side note, though a handful of people are actually identified by name in this History of Magic scene, they are comprised of every single Gryffindor in their year, and not one other person, so we have no idea who they share that class with, other than to guess that, since Malfoy makes no snide comments, it is not the Slytherins.

Right, now that we’ve got that straightened out, there’s another single-class clue. ““So, Harry,” said Lockhart, while Hermione folded the note with fumbling fingers and slipped it into her bag. “Tomorrow’s the first Quidditch match of the season, I believe?”” (CoS pg 163) This has to happen on a Friday, as Quidditch is always on Saturday. Furthermore, this scene is followed by a trip to the library, then to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom to hide. Unlike the last scene, where Harry’s quick lunch is mentioned, there is no such reference here.

And though they do talk about the potion for a while in Myrtle’s before leaving, they do not stay there for hours. Given that they have to stay after class, go to the library, deal with the librarian, go to Myrtle’s, and then talk for a while, I don’t believe this can all be accomplished in a 15 minute break, either. This implies that the trio has a free period after DADA on Fridays, whenever that is. Unfortunately, we have three good options for that on Fridays: Periods 2 and 3 with a break between, Periods 4 and 5, and Periods 5 and 6 with a break between. For now, I’m going to stick them into 4 and 5.

Our next set actually creates another problem. According to the HP Wiki, the dueling club took place the night of December 17th, a Thursday.

I couldn’t find any reference points in the book, which is why I looked at the wiki, so for the moment let’s assume that is correct. The Wiki also says that the last day of term in 1992 is the 21st. But that is a Monday.

Why would you send children home on a Monday, and not the Saturday before it? So I don’t think we actually can trust these dates. So, ignoring the dueling club, let’s just look at the day described.

“By the next morning, however, the snow that had begun in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that the last Herbology lesson of the term was canceled.” (CoS pg 197) When Harry runs into Hagrid during his canceled class, he ends the conversation by saying, “I’d better get going, Hagrid, it’s Transfiguration next and I’ve got to pick up my books.” (CoS pg 20)

This clearly establishes a morning of Herbology followed by Transfiguration. And we have a day exactly like that, on Mondays!

Now, one interesting thing to note is that this is apparently the “last” Herbology lesson of the term. This means that, unless the term does indeed end on a Monday, and this is that final Monday (we know it isn’t), they only have the one Herbology class; the double first thing Monday. Now, the firsties had an excessive number of Herbology classes, and only a double of Potions, so this could be Hogwarts evening things out.

However, there is another possibility. Currently, on our calendar, the first two blocks of Wednesday are free, and could easily be filled by a single each of Herbology and Transfiguration. This would given them three units of Herbology, and make the timeline fit slightly better. (If we call the 21st a Saturday instead of a Monday, that actually makes the 18th a Wednesday, so going by dates and not days of that year, it actually syncs up to the wiki.)

Finally, we have one last set of classes. During the Chamber panic, when teachers have to escort their students, we get this series: At the end of Potions class, Snape says, “Hurry up, I’ve got to take you all to Herbology,” (CoS pg 267) Then we’re told, “At the end of the lesson, Professor Sprout escorted the class to their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.” (CoS pg 269)

Now, our schedule doesn’t allow for three periods in a row without a break, but I think it is safe to assume that during this time the “break” happens in the classroom scheduled for before or after it. So, we need a 3 period chunk of day completely empty to squeeze in this batch. Thursday morning has just such a block, but doesn’t work because they have Potions that afternoon. The only other block like that is Tuesday afternoon, which is empty, that day only having Transfiguration early in the morning. So, I think we can assume that those classes slot in there.

And, of course, there isn’t a single mention of Astronomy classes in the entire book! Not even a mention of how they deal with being escorted to that class! However, I don’t think we can assume that they just dropped the class, so it must fit in their somewhere.

Now, a little tidying, and slotting in our two floating periods where they seem to fit best, and I think we’ve got a workable, mostly complete, second year schedule. As is, we’ve got four units each of Herbology, DADA, and Potions, 3 units each of Charms and Transfiguration, and 2 units of History. Evenness would call for a third History unit, which could certainly fit (and the Thursday morning one we have could easily be a double), though the 2 unit Potions anomaly from first year shows that they aren’t always even.

Now, with that in mind, let’s apply this to our firstie schedule.

.

Well, right away the Herbology double that we couldn’t place between Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday has to fit in the middle, so that takes care of one question. Our Charms and Transfiguration question marks on Thursday also fit.

Unfortunately, that is where we run out of luck. We just have too little information about the first year schedule, and to many open ended periods. We need to have Transfiguration early in the week? Well there are almost a dozen viable slots. Same for DADA and Charms and History of Magic.

To really make this work, we would need to look at the third year schedule, fourth, fifth, and so on, to really determine when the teachers are busy.

Perhaps it would pay, at that point, to make a reverse schedule. Make one for each professor, and fill in what they teach, instead of trying to create a schedule for an individual student.

Of course, I’ve now written over 5k about class schedules in the HP universe, and am no closer to figuring out the schedule for my fanfic’s Gryffs, let alone anyone else. On the other hand, though, now that I’ve started this, I really want to see it through. So stay tuned for the future years in chapter 2!


	2. Third and Fourth

Third year is somewhat complicated by the addition of the elective classes. However, this is also our best shot at filling in some of the other Houses besides Gryffindor, as Hermione has classes with them.

We start right off the bat with September 2nd. A Thursday in reality, this is likely to be a Monday in JKR’s world. However, I am going to keep them as Thursday until other clues indicate I should change that. When schedules are distributed, we get this gem, ““But look,” said Ron, laughing, “see this morning? Nine o’clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o’clock, Muggle Studies. And” — Ron leaned closer to the schedule, disbelieving — “look — underneath that, Arithmancy, nine o’clock.” (PoA pg 97-8) This is also an excellent reinforcement for classes beginning at 9am, as we assumed before!

We also learn that Divination, Muggle Studies, and Arithmancy are all at 9, meaning that, with the exception of Hermione, no student can take more than one of these classes. That begs the question of which is changed to fit the other; the class time, or the students taking it?

We also get the next class in that day: Transfiguration. “Harry, Ron, and Hermione descended Professor Trelawney’s ladder and the winding stair in silence, then set off for Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration lesson. It took them so long to find her classroom that, early as they had left Divination, they were only just in time.” (PoA pg 108) Transfiguration is also the last morning class, as “When the Transfiguration class had finished, they joined the crowd thundering toward the Great Hall for lunch.” (PoA pg 109)

Because there are three periods in the morning, and the trio does not have a free period between Divination and Transfiguration, we can assume that one of the classes is a double. Though Ron does not specify when reading Hermione’s schedule, given the placement of the break, I’m inclined to call the 9am classes the doubles. We also have no indication as to who any of these classes are with, aside from the Gryffs.

After lunch, we have a clear schedule as well, as Hagrid says, ““Yer in my firs’ ever lesson! Right after lunch!”” (PoA pg 98) Care, which is with the Slytherins, is also their last class of the day. “The Slytherins, still muttering about Hagrid, headed away in the direction of their dungeon common room; Harry, Ron, and Hermione proceeded upstairs to Gryffindor Tower.” (PoA pg 118) It isn’t clear if this class is a double, or if they just have two free periods that afternoon.

Now, after Malfoy is injured in Care, he doesn’t “reappear in classes until late on Thursday morning, when the Slytherins and Gryffindors were halfway through double Potions. (PoA pg 123) As this happens “late” in the morning, and as it is later stated that “They were at the top of the steps now, watching the rest of the class pass them, heading for the Great Hall and lunch. (PoA pg 129) I think we can assume that this double encompases periods 2 and 3 on Thursday.

Since we had put our September 2nd on Thursday, it appears time to move it. I’m not convinced it should be Monday yet, so we’ll move it to the side.

During lunch that same day, we also get this clue from Ron. ““You haven’t got any of these subjects today. It’s only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon.” (PoA pg 129-30) So we know that the Gryffindors, at least, only have DADA at _some point_ that afternoon (possibly a double).

Next, we have another set of classes with an unknown day. In theory it takes place on October 16th, as seen here. ““You know what day it is?” “Er —” “The sixteenth of October!” (PoA pg 147-8) However, in 1993 that date was a Saturday, while these students clearly have classes. Thus, this schedule is currently an unknown day of the week.

“Ron was still in a bad mood with Hermione next day. He barely talked to her all through Herbology...” (PoA pg 147) We can infer that this takes place in the morning, else Ron would have refused to speak to Hermione in an earlier class. Then we are told “They had Transfiguration next.” (PoA pg 147-8) It is while waiting for this class that we learn that today is supposedly October 16th. After the class, Harry meets with McGonagall, who concludes the conversation with ““I’m sorry, Potter, but that’s my final word. You had better hurry, or you’ll be late for your next lesson.”” (PoA pg 150)

From this we know that, in this three period block, Herbology comes first, followed by Transfiguration, and then presumably a third class. Harry and co might have that period free, however, as McGonagall is unlikely to have their schedules memorized. Thus, we add another floating day.

At last, however, we get an actual day of the week! We know Quidditch games are on Saturdays, thus if “Harry had no room in his head to worry about anything except the match tomorrow,” (PoA pg 169) it must be Friday. In this scene, we learn that this is the third time Wood has caught Harry between classes. It makes it likely, then, that this is either the third period of the morning, or one of the afternoon periods. Since there is no mention of a discussion at lunch, I’m inclined to believe it is the third morning period.

“The third time this happened, Wood talked for so long that Harry suddenly realized he was ten minutes late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and set off at a run,” (PoA pg 169) Snape is covering this class, however, indicating that it is also a free block for him. He assigns them an essay, saying “I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning.” (PoA pg 173) This seems to indicate that they also have DADA on Monday mornings.

However, the lead in to that next DADA class seems to dispute this. “Malfoy spent much of their next Potions class doing dementor imitations across the dungeon; Ron finally cracked and flung a large, slippery crocodile heart at Malfoy, which hit him in the face and caused Snape to take fifty points from Gryffindor. “If Snape’s teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again, I’m skiving off,” said Ron as they headed toward Lupin’s classroom after lunch. “Check who’s in there, Hermione.”” (PoA pg 185)

She discovers that it is indeed Lupin, and the students complain about Snape’s essay, which Lupin cancels. This shows that this is indeed the next DADA class, but JKR clearly states that it takes place after lunch. I think this disparity is easily answered by the fact that they had Potions first. Snape knew that the next time he saw this group would be first thing Monday morning for _Potions_ and didn’t correct himself for the fact that they didn’t have DADA until _afternoon_. So I think it is fair to say that the Gryffs have Potions in the morning and DADA after lunch on Mondays.

One night, while the boys are working on homework, we get this nugget of information. “Ron said. “I heard her talking to Professor Vector, that Arithmancy witch, this morning. They were going on about yesterday’s lesson, but Hermione can’t’ve been there, because she was with us in Care of Magical Creatures! And Ernie McMillan told me she’s never missed a Muggle Studies class, but half of them are at the same time as Divination, and she’s never missed one of them either!” (PoA pg 244)

Unfortunately, while this seems to give a lot of information, it actually doesn’t. They have multiple Care lessons, and without more context, we have no idea which day’s lesson syncs with Arithmancy. We also know that Muggle Studies overlaps with Divination, but only _half_ the time! Knowing that these sometimes overlap, but not always, just muddies the waters, instead of giving us a clear clue. The one thing it does show, however, is that Muggle Studies is a Gryff-Huff class, as Ernie McMillan is in it.

However, this is even _less_ helpful than it appears, because we currently only have one day with either Divination or Care on it, and that is our floating September 2nd. Ron already notes that Hermione has both Muggle Studies and Divination at the same time on that day. She also has Arithmancy that morning at the same time as these, and Care in the afternoon. So, unless she has four units of Care that day, this is not the day in which Care overlaps with Arithmancy. Or perhaps it is this day, and Ron thought Hermione was talking about an afternoon class, which would overlap with Care, while forgetting that she had Arithmancy in her morning schedule for that day. Either way, it does not add anything to our schedule, save to note that Arithmancy is with the Puffs.

The next set of clues is back to being an unknown day. The trio is in Care with the Slytherins, and Malfoy picks a fight with them after, as “they were walking back up to the castle with the rest of the class.” (PoA pg 293) After Hermione slaps Malfoy, we get this: ““We’re due in Charms,” said Ron, still goggling at Hermione. “We’d better go.” They hurried up the marble staircase toward Professor Flitwick’s classroom.” (PoA pg 294)

We also know what time of day this Care/Charms duo falls into, because they leave the latter still high on Cheering Charms and go straight to lunch. “Hermione wasn’t at lunch either. By the time they had finished their apple pie, the after-effects of the Cheering Charms were wearing off, and Harry and Ron had started to get slightly worried.” (PoA pg 294) Thus, Care and Charms were their morning classes. We know Charms is in the third period, because it is right before lunch, and know that Care leads right into it (after the break), but we aren’t sure if Care was also in the first period. Also, we know that Hermione has a different elective that morning (most likely during Care) because she does not make it into Charms. She clearly used her Time Turner after Care to go to a different class, then went to do homework and fell asleep, missing Charms and Lunch.

Now, this could have two implications. The first is that Care was a double, while whatever other elective Hermione went to was a single in the first period. Thus, she was working on homework during the second period, waiting for the third period and Charms. The second implication is that the other elective was also a double, and that Hermione went to work on homework during the break between second and third periods.

Given the amount of homework strewn about, and the fact that she went all the way back to Gryffindor Tower, instead of just sitting near a classroom closer to her source or destination, I don’t think Hermione only had a short break here. Thus, I’m fairly confident in saying that Care was a double, but her other elective was a single in the first period.

When the boys find Hermione, she asks what lesson is next, and is told by Harry, “Divination, but it’s not for another twenty minutes,” (PoA pg 295) Now, we know that the boys have already had a long lunch, long enough for the cheering charms to wear off, and then went off to find Hermione. It is unlikely that they still have 20 minutes of their lunch break left before another period. Thus, it is fairly logical to think that Divination is actually the second period after lunch here.

Now, here is where we run into problems, and also begin to solve them. We have created three “floating” days, and need to put them into the actual schedule. Two of these floaters have both morning and afternoon classes, while we only have two completely free days on the schedule. Clearly, they must go there. But what of the third floater? Our other days all have something in them.

Well, I think we have found which class McGonagall was sending Harry off to. On Friday, we know that the trio has DADA during their third period. And our third floating day has periods one and two filled in, with a theoretical class during third period. I think these two data sets lock together and form a pretty logical Friday morning schedule.

Now, the only question remaining is, which floater is the Tuesday and which is the Wednesday? One of them is our September 2nd, which was in Thursday in real life, and often Monday in JKR time. However, both of those days have classes assigned to them. We have no other clues to place either day, so for now I’m afraid they need to remain floating.

A final note of interest is that, despite Hermione taking it, Ancient Runes is almost never mentioned in this book, and in fact we don’t have a single clue as to when it occurs.

Of course, the way the third book is written, none of the electives make sense. If Muggle Studies always overlaps with Divination, then even a student only taking two classes (the minimum) can’t take _those_ two. Similarly, we know from their September 2nd schedule that Arithmancy overlaps with both Muggle Studies and Divination. So no student can take Arithmancy and Muggle Studies as their two classes, and none can take Arithmancy and Divination as their two. We hear nothing about Runes, but it appears that the only thing one can take with Divination is Care.

Also, if Ron is indeed correct about one of Hermione’s conflicts, then it is impossible to take Arithmancy and Care together as well, meaning that Arithmancy appears to only be compatible with Runes, as we’ve ruled out the other three. Or is it only Gryffindors who have these exact conflicts? We know that the Gryffs have Care with the Slyths, but Arithmancy with the Puffs. And every single Gryff appears to be in Divination, until Hermione drops it. Does that mean that the other Houses have their own conflicts? Slyths can’t combine Care and Divination? Puffs can’t combine Muggle Studies and Runes? Ravens in Arithmancy can only combine it with Care?

Why even give them options if you continue to keep them segregated by House (and by pairs of Houses) and to have so many conflicts? Wouldn’t it be more logical to combine all four Houses for the electives (as clearly there would be fewer students per House than a core class, thus keeping the size down). Then all five courses could, by year, be arranged in such a way as to keep overlaps to a minimum?

I’m not even getting into the part where, for a teacher of a core class, the schedule itself is impossible. Even if each class only meets two units a week, which we know they meet more, but let’s just say. Even if they do, then transfiguration for seven years takes fourteen units. But wait! That is just one pair of Houses per year! There’s a whole second pair to take into account! So there are actually a minimum of four units a week for each year, making twenty eight units! And with six periods in a day, that makes thirty periods per teacher. Twenty eight units does fit into thirty periods, with two whole free periods to spare even, but wait!

Remember, we only gave each class two meetings a week, with no doubles. We know for a fact that the firsties have three Herbology meetings a week, and one was a double. Even if it wasn’t a double, just that one extra unit for the two firstie groups eliminates the two free periods for Sprout. So yes, it is impossible for the teachers to fit in all these classes, unless there are many more periods in the day, but the textual clues we have found so far just don’t indicate that busy of a day.

I realize that I’m trying to make sense of a fantasy world, but dang it, this isn’t like believing in the existence of dragons! This is simple pre-writing plotting!

Okay, small rant over.

Now for fourth year!

In this book, we perhaps get the clearest indicator that JKR likes September 2nd to be on Mondays. Despite the actual day being a Friday in real life, we get this passage. ““Today’s not bad . . . outside all morning,” said Ron, who was running his finger down the Monday column of his schedule. “Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures . . . damn it, we’re still with the Slytherins. . . .” “Double Divination this afternoon,” Harry groaned, looking down.” (GoF pg 193) Yes, she specifies that this is the Monday day schedule! Herbology and Care in the morning, both apparently singles, and then a double of Divination after lunch.

We even get slightly more detail, exactly placing the morning classes. “A booming bell echoed from the castle across the wet grounds, signaling the end of the lesson, and the class separated; the Hufflepuffs climbing the stone steps for Transfiguration, and the Gryffindors heading in the other direction, down the sloping lawn toward Hagrid’s small wooden cabin, which stood on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.” (GoF pg 195) There is no indication of a break, implying that these two classes are in periods 1 and 2, not 2 and 3.

We also know, though the double implies it, that Divination is in the first two periods of the afternoon, not spanning the break, because of this: “When the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon lessons, Harry and Ron set off for North Tower where, at the top of a tightly spiraling staircase, a silver stepladder led to a circular trapdoor in the ceiling, and the room where Professor Trelawney lived.” (GoF pg 199) This is the bell _starting_ afternoon lessons, not a bell later in the afternoon.

We can also place Arithmancy, and guess that it is also a double, as Hermione appears as the boys leave Divination. ““Lots of homework?” said Hermione brightly, catching up with them. “Professor Vector didn’t give us any at all!”” (GoF pg 202) What a very clear Monday! 

We even get information from another year! Sixth years Fred, George, and Lee, talk to the trio about their DADA class, calling Moody, ““Beyond cool,” said George, sitting down opposite Fred. “Supercool,” said the twins’ best friend, Lee Jordan, sliding into the seat beside George. “We had him this afternoon,” he told Harry and Ron.” (GoF pg 208)

So we know what they’ve got Monday afternoon. We also get this info from Ron: “Ron dived into his bag for his schedule. “We haven’t got him till Thursday!” he said in a disappointed voice.” (GoF pg 208) Come Thursday, we get even more specific: “The Gryffindor fourth years were looking forward to Moody’s first lesson so much that they arrived early on Thursday lunchtime and queued up outside his classroom before the bell had even rung.” (GoF pg 210) So this is the first period after lunch!

Now, oddly, in this book, we get a lot of reinforcement for our Monday schedule. When working on Divination homework, Ron confirms their Care class. ““Okay . . . on Monday, I will be in danger of — er — burns.” “Yeah, you will be,” said Ron darkly, “we’re seeing the skrewts again on Monday.” (GoF pg 221) In the 290s we get a Herbology class with hostile Puffs after the Goblet of Fire incident. In the early 340s Harry skives off of Herbology to talk to Cedric. A few pages later he wants to skive off Divination, “but Hermione refused point-blank to skive off Arithmancy, and there was no point in staying without her.” (GoF pg 345-6) We also get confirmation of the Divination being a double, as Harry “had to endure over an hour of Professor Trelawney.” (GoF pg 345-6)

So yes, we are very very clear on the Gryffindor 4th year Monday schedule.

And, oddly, we get another Sixth year class, as Harry stalks Cedric that Monday. “By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was with a load of sixth-year friends. Harry didn’t want to talk to Cedric in front of them; they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter’s article at him every time he went near them. He followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor.” (GoF pg 340)

This scene does two things. The first is that it implies that, like Angelina, Cedric is actually a 17-year-old Sixth year. They, like Hermione, are September/early October babies. It also means, as a side note, that the Goblet bypassed all of the Hogwarts Seventh years who presumably entered, and picked Cedric as a Sixth year. Pretty impressive for him!

But back to the trio’s schedule!

We get some good information in October: “The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o’clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half an hour early — “Brilliant!” said Harry. “It’s Potions last thing on Friday! Snape won’t have time to poison us all!”” (GoF pg 235) It almost isn’t worth pointing out that October 30th in 1994 was a Sunday, I suppose.

But if we assume that it is indeed a Friday, then this places Potions in the trio’s Friday afternoon schedule. And not just in it, but as the last class of the day. Putting that in our sixth period slot, however, raises some questions. As currently figured, that slot ends at 4:10. From 4:10, they have plenty of time to prepare for a 6pm arrival, with no need to end class early.

This is reinforced by this passage from that day. “Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang; even Potions was more bearable than usual, as it was half an hour shorter. When the bell rang early, Harry, Ron, and Hermione hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.” (GoF pg 241)

Even with the half an hour added to their schedule, they are still rushing to get downstairs in time for the 6pm arrival. This seems to take us past not only the potential seventh period I mentioned earlier, which would go from 4:15-5:15, but into a possible eighth from 5:20 to 6:20. With that schedule, a half hour early would let them out at 5:50, which much better fits that rushing scene. Or perhaps there is another break of some kind after the sixth period, meaning that they do only go to seven periods, but the last is scheduled more like 4:30-5:30. But at that point, the half hour early is again not needed. No, the seventh and eighth periods make the most sense for this scene.

And, as the students are getting older, it makes sense for them to have a longer day. While the firsties tended to get out at 3, students coming up on their OWL year might be expected to have classes until 5 or 6. It also helps with that conundrum from before, about the teachers not having enough periods in the day to fit all their classes. Adding a seventh and eighth period gives them 10 more spaces to fit in their classes.

Now, that said, Friday evening is not the only time that the trio has Potions. We also get this hint much earlier, as the trio are anxiously awaiting Thursday’s first DADA lesson. “The next two days passed without great incident, unless you counted Neville melting his sixth cauldron in Potions.” (GoF pg 209). So in addition to Friday, they must have Potions at some point on Tuesday or Wednesday. It is also likely, given that they only appear to meet twice a week, and are undoubtedly working on more complex potions, that both of these meetings are doubles. In fact, I would be inclined to think that Potions is always a double, unless they are making a very quick potion! :)

Unfortunately, the next passage just adds to the Potions confusion. We do learn that they have Charms before Potions, and likely before lunch. ““It’s really not that difficult, Harry,” Hermione tried to reassure him as they left Flitwick’s class [...] “Still — never mind, eh? Double Potions to look forward to this afternoon. . . .”” (GoF pg 296) Harry and Hermione’s conversation makes it sound like they are not heading directly from Charms to Potions, but that there is a gap, as Potions will be “this afternoon”.

But is this Charms/Potions day the Friday, or the Tuesday/Wednesday? Well that’s where things get tricky. “He had already struggled through one Friday’s worth, with Hermione sitting next to him intoning “ignore them, ignore them, ignore them” under her breath, and he couldn’t see why today should be any better.” (GoF pg 296-7) Well, if he’s only had one Potions class since the Goblet, and that was a Friday, then it would stand to reason that this was the earlier one. However, if the others arrived on Friday, and the draw was on Saturday, then Harry should have had his earlier Potions first, and then Friday should have been his second encounter with the Slytherins, with this his third.

Also, from the phrasing, it sounds like Harry _only_ has Potions on Friday. As he made it through one “Friday” with the Slytherins, instead of one “class.” Had JKR forgotten that she established a Potions class earlier in the week? I think we have to put the Charms class on Friday, and ignore the number of classes he should have attended.

However, this passage is not through with us. “Double Potions was always a horrible experience, but these days it was nothing short of torture. Being shut in a dungeon for an hour and a half with Snape and the Slytherins, all of whom seemed determined to punish Harry as much as possible for daring to become school champion, was about the most unpleasant thing Harry could imagine.” (GoF pg 296-7)

For the first time, we get an indication of the exact length of a class. A double, apparently, is only an hour and a half, instead of the two hours I had thought. This means that a single class is only 45 minutes long.

What? I’m having enough trouble filling in enough classes to get them through a day, and getting them all the way to dinner time, and you’re telling me that the classes are 15 minutes shorter than I thought? And that every time I thought a class was about an hour long, it had to have been a double, and actually longer than that, because an hour would be longer than a single? I repeat: what? How long are passing periods, then? Should I assume they are longer? Bumping them from 5 to 10 minutes would keep this revelation from doing too much to the schedule, especially if breaks and lunch were a wee bit longer. But wait, a double must incorporate one passing period, for those who have two singles in that time. So does that hour and a half actually incorporate two periods _and_ a passing period? Are the periods actually only 40 minutes? Or does the schedule have some times that are “single” periods and some times that are “double” periods, and the passing is done accordingly? No, that doesn’t work, because we discussed earlier how Hermione had a single+free while the boys have a double.

And we know that every class isn’t a double, because they specify doubles when reading off their schedule. There would be no reason to comment on a “double of Divination” on Monday if the two classes earlier that day were also doubles.

With 40 minute periods and 10 minute passings, even with upping the breaks to 30 minutes and the lunch to an hour and a half like breakfast, I need _nine_ periods to get us anywhere close to a 6pm class! (Period 9 gets out at 6:10, thus the half hour early dismissal gives the Hogwarts students 20 minutes to get downstairs before their guests arrive, which is reasonable.) But then they have four classes in a row in the afternoon without a break.

Putting in a break, however, and dropping down to eight classes, has them ending at 5:40, making the half hour TWT dismissal again make no sense. But adding the ninth period back in takes us all the way to 6:30, meaning that even with a half hour dismissal, the Hogwarts students would not be ready for their guests at 6 on the dot; more like 5 or 10 after.

What is this madness!

Perhaps a fourth class in the morning, and a later lunch, and only four classes in the afternoon? But don’t forget those firsties, who have to be done with classes at 3:30 for their flying lessons! Surely that lesson wasn’t scheduled to go until 6pm?

And, what’s worse, I happen to know that book five is going to destroy this schedule even if I do manage to fix it!

My inclination for now is just to ignore that paragraph about potions, and pretend that we never saw it, and never entered this conundrum.

Agreed?

Agreed.

So, moving on. Charms is before Potions, either on Friday, or on Tuesday/Wednesday.

There is actually another passage that might clarify this, during the flutter leading up to the Yule Ball. “Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday” (GoF pg 391) Well, we know we have a Potions lesson on either Tuesday or Wednesday, and we know that we have a day with Charms in the morning and Potions in the afternoon, so I’d say that we have a match here.

Especially as, in the next paragraph, the mid-week Potions class is confirmed. “Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term. “Evil, he is,” Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. “Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying.”” (GoF pg 392) This proves both that they do have Potions on the last day of the week (Friday) as we saw when the other schools arrived, and also that this day is not that day. This has to be Wednesday or later of the same week, but before the Friday lesson.

After that Wednesday morning Charms class, we get these further notes, “Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions — as Binns hadn’t let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn’t going to put him off.” (GoF pg 392) From this, we can suppose that sometime Wednesday through Friday they have History.

This had also been hinted at earlier, on the day of the First Task. (Oddly, a weekday). We know that “the first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.” (GoF pg 281) In reality, that is a Thursday, but we know that means nothing to JKR. On that day, Harry feels that “time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment he seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch” (GoF pg 347-8) So we know that his first lesson on the 24th is History of Magic. Let us assume that that day is indeed Thursday, as that fits our earlier information.

Also from the Yule Ball lead up, after that Wednesday morning Charms class, we get this. “Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too.” (GoF pg 392) We already knew that there was DADA on Thursday, but now we also know that Transfiguration slots in there somewhere. In fact, we can actually narrow down the day. “Professor McGonagall’s irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up.” (GoF pg 385) It is unlikely that a core class like Transfiguration _only_ meets on Thursday, but we know it does meet that day. And, as DADA is in the afternoon, and History of Magic is first thing it is likely at some point between the two, in the later morning.

This Transfiguration class is followed by this scene, “A curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom Harry had never spoken in his life asked him to go to the ball with her the very next day. Harry was so taken aback he said no before he’d even stopped to consider the matter. The girl walked off looking rather hurt, and Harry had to endure Dean’s, Seamus’s, and Ron’s taunts about her all through History of Magic.” (GoF pg 389) As the next day would be a Friday, we know that the Gryffindor’s have another History block is Friday. This is confirmed, and the time narrowed down, by Harry’s quest for a dance partner. 

““Harry — we’ve just got to grit our teeth and do it,” said Ron on Friday morning, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress. “When we get back to the common room tonight, we’ll both have partners — agreed?”” (GoF pg 388-9) This establishes us as Friday. We then get this: “But every time he glimpsed Cho that day — during break, and then lunchtime, and once on the way to History of Magic — she was surrounded by friends.” So we can assume that the History class is after lunch, presumably _right_ after, as we know he has Potions later. 

This is even immediately confirmed a few lines later. “He found it hard to concentrate on Snape’s Potions test, and consequently forgot to add the key ingredient — a bezoar — meaning that he received bottom marks. He didn’t care, though; he was too busy screwing up his courage for what he was about to do. When the bell rang, he grabbed his bag, and hurried to the dungeon door.” (GoF pg 396) 

Also, incidentally, we get another glimpse of the older students’ schedule, though fifth year this time, as Harry “found her, emerging from a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.” (GoF pg 396) 

We also get another chance to fill in our Friday. Harry cracks the puzzle of his golden egg “on Thursday night,” (GoF pg 459). He then discusses this discovery with the rest of the trio the next day, or Friday. “He, Ron, and Hermione were sitting at the very back of the Charms class with a table to themselves. They were supposed to be practicing the opposite of the Summoning Charm today — the Banishing Charm.” (GoF pg 479) As Harry would likely want to share this as soon as possible, and as a free period would be preferable to a class, we have to assume that Charms is their first period of the day. 

A few scenes later, we also reaffirm that the trio ends their Friday afternoon with Potions. “The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way [...] He therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon — double Potions — feeling considerably more cheerful than he usually did when descending the steps to the dungeons. (GoF pg 510-11) We learned this with the arrival of the other schools, but this scene confirms it. 

We also get a little confirmation/clarity about Wednesdays and Thursdays. “Finally, in the last week of May, Professor McGonagall held him back in Transfiguration. “You are to go down to the Quidditch field tonight at nine o’clock, Potter,” she told him. “Mr. Bagman will be there to tell the champions about the third task.”” (GoF pg 549-50) At this meeting, they learn that the final task will be a month from then. We know that the final task is on June 24th, because “Harry’s nerves mounted as June the twenty-fourth drew closer, but they were not as bad as those he had felt before the first and second tasks.” (GoF pg 610) Thus, this Transfiguration class must be on May 24th, which is a Wednesday. 

We didn’t previously have a Transfiguration class on Wednesday, so this likely slots into either the third or sixth periods, or perhaps the heretofore unused seventh and eighth evening periods. We are certain that this is indeed a Wednesday, however, because the day after it clearly follows the trio’s Thursday schedule. 

““He’d probably blast us through the door if we wake him at the crack of dawn; he’ll think we’re trying to attack him while he’s asleep. Let’s give it till break.” History of Magic had rarely gone so slowly. [...] When the bell finally rang, they hurried out into the corridors toward the Dark Arts classroom and found Professor Moody leaving it.” (GoF pg 569) We knew that they had History first thing on Thursdays, and now we can confirm that it is a double period, going all the way to break. This also means that the Transfiguration class they have on Thursday mornings must be a single, happening in the third period. 

Lastly, I took a bit of a shot at figuring out their Astronomy class again, despite it never being mentioned after first year. Sirius sends Harry a letter, saying, “Can you ensure that you are alone by the fire in Gryffindor Tower at one o’clock in the morning on the 22nd of November?” (GoF pg 312) Now, despite the fact that this is not specified, I believe that this means the night of the 21st, meaning that at 1am we are technically into the 22nd. I think, had he meant the night of the 22nd/23rd, he would have used the word “night” instead of “morning.” However, it could go either way. With the 22nd being a Tuesday, that makes this night the Monday. With them meeting at 1, that means that Harry is free that night, and not in Astronomy class. We already know that the firsties meet on Wednesdays, so this can at least narrow down the fourth years to Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday. Unfortunately, that’s as close as we’ll get. 


	3. Fifth and Sixth

Now, right off the bat in fifth year, we get confirmation of our tentative schedule, and also proof that the statement that they only have 2 periods each in the morning and afternoon is wrong. I doubted that when initially working out the basic schedule, but OotP gives us proof right on September 2nd. Of course, September 2nd is a Saturday, but we’ll tentatively put these classes on Monday until contradicted.

““Look at today!” groaned Ron. “History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts . . . Binns, Snape, Trelawney, and that Umbridge woman all in one day!”” (OotP pg 225) Not only do we neatly fill in our day, but we know that they have three morning periods and at least three afternoon periods, or the doubles couldn’t fit. However, this also begs the question of whether the breaks have changed for students of this age; as they currently stand, both doubles are split around the break. This even seems to be confirmed later, as they leave History. ““How would it be,” she asked them coldly as they left the classroom for break (Binns drifting away through the blackboard), “if I refused to lend you my notes this year?”” (OotP pg 229) So for now, we’ll swap the breaks for this year.

Of course, we also are told that the periods are shorter, only 45 minutes; “Today they suffered through three quarters of an hour’s droning on the subject of giant wars.” (OotP pg 229) But, given the problems with this that I discussed with that in the last book, I’m choosing to ignore that for now. I also refuse to believe that, as their OWLs are approaching, that is the time that their classes are shortening.

We also get a clue for a different year, as Seventh year Fred says, ““C’mon, George, if we get there early we might be able to sell a few Extendable Ears before Herbology.”” (OotP pg 227)

However, OotP is not above completely screwing up the schedule we’ve established. “It says here she’s given you detention every evening this week, starting tomorrow,” Professor McGonagall said, looking down at Umbridge’s note again. [...] “You will go to her room at five o’clock tomorrow for the first one.”” (OotP pg 248-9) According to this, classes for fifth years must end at 5pm, or slightly before. Our 6-period version of the schedule has classes ending at 4:10, which works out fine, but the TWT forced us to an 8- or 9-period version that ended after 6pm.

There is the slight possibility that Harry only has detention at 5 on this day because he has no class, and that the times would be adjusted in the future. However, Umbridge herself contradicts this: “No, you will come here at five o’clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you.”” (OotP pg 265)

Umbridge is certainly the kind to force Harry to miss class so he can attend a detention, but McGonagall wouldn’t stand for that, so we can assume that we are back to the original schedule, and that Harry has no classes after 5pm. Indeed, they must end slightly before that, in order for him to eat dinner.

Because this does, of course, beg the question of dinner. Previously, we had assumed a somewhat later dinner, in the 6pm range. However, Umbridge has Harry’s detentions scheduled before then. Now it is possible that he has detention first and then dinner after, but of course that isn’t what happens. When the detention itself occurs, we get confirmation. “As Harry was starving, and he had his first detention with Umbridge at five o’clock, he headed straight for dinner without dropping off his bag in Gryffindor Tower so that he could bolt something down before facing whatever she had in store for him.” (OotP pg 263) This implies that Harry is able to eat an early dinner at at least 4:45, probably 4:30. This is fairly early for a dinner slot, but it does fit with his classes ending at 4:10. It is probable that, though food appears at 4:30 or so, most students don’t actually come to the Hall until closer to 5.

We do know that Harry couldn’t possibly eat dinner after, as we get this passage at the end of his first detention: “Harry left her office without a word. The school was quite deserted; it was surely past midnight.” (OotP pg 268) Umbridge has him in a 7+ hour detention. Now, even for her, this seems a little insane, but for now we’ll let that be. What it does tell us is that, unless he has Astronomy at 1am or later, he will be late for it or miss it entirely due to his detentions.

Now that we’ve got a new basic schedule, let’s resume filling it in. The day after Harry is assigned the detentions, which we tentatively called Monday, we get another good shot at the schedule, which we shall tentatively call Tuesday: “The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table at breakfast. “But on the plus side, no Snape today,” said Ron bracingly. [...] Double Charms was succeeded by double Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of O.W.L.s.” (OotP pg 256) While this does set up the morning pretty clearly, it throws another wrench into the schedule. Suddenly, we have space for two double periods in one morning?

Perhaps the second double could have been after lunch? But no, because we get this next gem: “Now panicking slightly about the amount of homework they had to do, Harry and Ron spent their lunch hour in the library looking up the uses of moonstones in potion-making.” (OotP pg 257) Therefore, both doubles have to fit into the morning schedule.This means that there has to be a fourth period in the morning, despite Ron not having mentioned it when he was listing their Monday classes before. At this point, the cleanest fix would appear to be to bump the lunch period later, but that rams us up against the 5pm detentions. An earlier breakfast would not be out of the question for older students, so I’m going to tweak the schedule in that direction.

With that settled, they also flesh out the rest of the day’s classes as follows. After the lunch hour in the library we are told, “By the time they reached Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon, Harry’s head was aching again.” (OotP pg 257) Immediately after Care, they head to Herbology, and we get several pieces of information.

First, we get a shot at the fourth years: “The door of the nearest greenhouse opened and some fourth years spilled out of it, including Ginny. “Hi,” she said brightly as she passed. A few seconds later, Luna Lovegood emerged, trailing behind the rest of the class, a smudge of earth on her nose and her hair tied in a knot on the top of her head.” (OotP pg 261) This means that the fourth year Gryffindors share that class with Ravenclaws. We also know, from the presence of Ernie Macmillan in his own period, that Harry shares this Herbology period with the Hufflepuffs. “Ernie’s words had certainly wiped the smile from Lavender Brown’s face and, as he turned to talk to Ron and Hermione, Harry caught Seamus’s expression, which looked both confused and defiant. To nobody’s surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of O.W.L.s.” (OotP pg 262-3).

However, one odd thing is that there does not appear to be a break between Care and Herbology. The fifth years certainly don’t dawdle after Care, as they reach the greenhouses just as the fourth years are leaving. This strongly implies that there is no afternoon break.

Unfortunately, the 45 minute period rears its ugly head again, as class ends in this way: “Tired and smelling strongly of dragon dung, Professor Sprout’s preferred brand of fertilizer, the Gryffindors trooped back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of them talking very much; it had been another long day. As Harry was starving, and he had his first detention with Umbridge at five o’clock, he headed straight for dinner without dropping off his bag in Gryffindor Tower so that he could bolt something down before facing whatever she had in store for him.” (OotP pg 263) So we know that Herbology is a double, which fits our flipped break schedule, and also that it gets out right before dinner, which fits our shortened day schedule.

If we move the first class of the day back to 9, allow for only a morning break, give lunch a full hour, add five minute passing periods, and along with the 45 minute class period, our schedule now looks like this:

Despite all of that, fifth year is actually the most clear on the class schedule itself, thanks to the overload of OWLs. For Harry’s third day, which we will tentatively call Wednesday, we get this flurry: “He skipped breakfast next morning to scribble down a couple of made-up dreams for Divination, their first lesson, and was surprised to find a disheveled Ron keeping him company. It was another bad day for Harry; he was one of the worst in Transfiguration, not having practiced Vanishing Spells at all. He had to give up his lunch hour to complete the picture of the bowtruckle, and meanwhile, Professors McGonagall, Grubbly-Plank, and Sinistra gave them yet more homework, which he had no prospect of finishing that evening because of his second detention with Umbridge.” (OotP pg 268-9)

So there we have it, Divination and Transfiguration in the morning, then lunch, and Care and Astronomy (Professor Sinistra) afterwards. The only odd thing to note is that apparently Astronomy is held in the afternoon on this year, as Harry receives homework for it before his detention. We also note that Harry does not appear to have a free period in this day either, meaning that the morning classes and one afternoon one are likely doubles.

The next day we have confirmed as Thursday, thus confirming our assumption that September 2nd was again slotted into Monday. Unfortunately, we get not hint at his classes, jumping straight from breakfast to detention: “Thursday passed in a haze of tiredness. Ron seemed very sleepy too, though Harry could not see why he should be. Harry’s third detention passed in the same way as the previous two” (OotP pg 270)

We can assume, however, that he might have had Potions, as he was frantically working on that essay the night before. Of course, he was also working on his homework for Transfiguration and Care, but as he has already had those multiple times, it is not clear whether they are due Thursday or not:

“His homework situation, however, was now desperate, and when he returned to the Gryffindor common room he did not, though exhausted, go to bed, but opened his books and began Snape’s moonstone essay. It was half-past two by the time he had finished it. He knew he had done a poor job, but there was no help for it; unless he had something to give in he would be in detention with Snape next. He then dashed off answers to the questions Professor McGonagall had set them, cobbled together something on the proper handling of bowtruckles for Professor Grubbly-Plank, and staggered up to bed, where he fell fully clothed on top of the bed covers and fell asleep immediately.” (OotP pg 270)

The dawning of Friday gives us no more clues for Harry’s first week. We do get a slight confirmation of Monday’s schedule. We know from Ron’s earlier comment that History is not a double, and with the new schedule, that gives the trio an extra period on Monday mornings. Hermione’s insistence on leaving breakfast quickly gives weight to History being first, with the free period coming second. ““Well, come on,” said Hermione, jumping up, “we’d better get going, if she’s inspecting Binns’s class we don’t want to be late. . . .” But Professor Umbridge was not inspecting their History of Magic lesson, which was just as dull as the previous Monday, nor was she in Snape’s dungeon when they arrived for double Potions, where Harry’s moonstone essay was handed back to him with a large, spiky black D scrawled in an upper corner.” (OotP 309)

There is no mention of a free period, but we know from the other days that it must, indeed, exist, giving us this schedule:

Finally, we get another hint as to Fred and George’s schedule. ““You lot had an inspected lesson yet?” Fred asked them. “No,” said Hermione at once, “have you?” “Just now, before lunch,” said George. “Charms.”” (OotP pg 311)

We also get another hint about Monday slightly later, where “Hermione even reported that every occupant of the cubicles in the girls’ toilets had been talking about it when she nipped in there before Ancient Runes.” (OotP pg 582) Since she has every other Monday class with the boys except Divination, it is likely that Ancient Runes is during that same period. Excitingly, this is our first hint about Ancient Runes class in five books! Woo hoo!

The day of Sirius’s visit is fairly well established as to be on Monday, due to the classes he is in. Further, the next morning, the trio discuss the visit and Umbridge’s interruption during Charms, which we know is first thing on Tuesday. “Charms was always one of the best lessons in which to enjoy a private chat: [...] Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s whispered discussion about how Umbridge had nearly caught Sirius went quite unnoticed.” (OotP pg 374)

However, then we run into a little trouble. As Tuesday night passes “Midnight came and went while Harry was reading and rereading a passage about the uses of scurvy-grass, lovage, and sneezewort and not taking in a word of it.” (OotP pg 383) So we know that the next day is a Wednesday. We know that Wednesday’s afternoon classes are Care and Astronomy. Unfortunately, after Dobby’s post-midnight visit, we get this passage: “Their robes billowed and swirled around them as they splashed across the flooded vegetable patch to double Herbology, where they could hardly hear what Professor Sprout was saying over the hammering of raindrops hard as hailstones on the greenhouse roof. The afternoon’s Care of Magical Creatures lesson was to be relocated from the stormswept grounds to a free classroom on the ground floor.” (OotP pg 387-8)

This leads to the first DA meeting, but as these are not on set nights, that doesn’t help us fix the conundrum. My inclination is to believe that a day passed without us realizing it, and that we are now on Thursday afternoon. It might make more sense to say that this is a throwback to Tuesday, but on Tuesdays, Care comes before Herbology. The way this passage is worded makes it sound as though Care came after, as it “was to be relocated” after Herbology had started. Thus, on Thursdays, we start the afternoon with a double of Herbology and finish with a single of Care.

We get a hint about another of Hermione’s electives when one morning “After breakfast Hermione departed for her Arithmancy class and Harry and Ron followed Parvati and Lavender into the entrance hall, heading for Divination.” (OotP pg 600) As this is likely their Wednesday morning Divination slot, we can safely assume that fifth years also have Arithmancy on Wednesday mornings.

For our purposes, not a lot happens for over 200 pages until Umbridge snags the DA. The next day, we get this tidbit: ““Dumbledore will be back before long,” said Ernie Macmillan confidently on the way back from Herbology after listening intently to Harry’s story.” (OotP pg 625) Now I already have the gang in Herbology on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, but this must take place in the morning, as moments later the twins tell them ““I’d get in the Great Hall for lunch if I were you, that way the teachers will see you can’t have had anything to do with it.”” (OotP pg 627). This means that the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors must also have Herbology one morning! The only mornings we have yet to work out are Thursday and Friday, so it must be one of these.

After the twins set off their fireworks, we get another clue. “The fireworks continued to burn and to spread all over the school that afternoon. Though they caused plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers, the other teachers did not seem to mind them very much. “Dear, dear,” said Professor McGonagall sardonically, as one of the dragons soared around her classroom, emitting loud bangs and exhaling flame. “Miss Brown, would you mind running along to the headmistress and informing her that we have an escaped firework in our classroom?”” (OotP pg 634)

This means that the Gryffindors at least must have Transfiguration some time in the afternoon on this same day. Since we have Thursday afternoons completely figured out, this day must be a Friday. Thus, our Friday schedule finally takes a little shape:

Of course, later that same page we get this from Hermione: ““Oh, why don’t we have a night off ?” said Hermione brightly, as a silver-tailed Weasley rocket zoomed past the window. “After all, the Easter holidays start on Friday, we’ll have plenty of time then. . . .”” (OotP pg 634) implying that today cannot be Friday. However, there is no other possible day where the Gryffindor fifth years can have Transfiguration in the afternoon, unless our Thursday is wrong.

Given that, the day following the fireworks display is a school day, and Harry even has Occlumency that night, it appears that our Thursday must indeed be wrong. Given that we had to assume a day had passed to make our Thursday work in the first place, it is not unreasonable to say that two days passed, and set it on a Friday. Thus, our new schedule:

We still know that Potions class is on a Thursday, and we can assume it is in the morning, given that nothing was said about Snape’s reactions to the fireworks. Since they have Herbology right before lunch, it neatly slots into the first and second periods.

Of course, we then get this bit with regards to career advice: “Harry looked down the list and found that he was expected in Professor McGonagall’s office at half-past two on Monday, which would mean missing most of Divination.” (OotP pg 656) When we were forced to shorten the classes to 45 minutes each, that placed Divination on Mondays ending at 2:10. At half past 2, Harry should be just starting his DADA double. Further, we know that Umbridge sits in on Harry’s meeting, which she couldn’t do if she was also expected to be teaching him DADA at the same time. It cannot be a double of Divination, because Ron read us that schedule quite clearly on the first day of school. We also cannot move the classes later, because Harry had to get out at 5 for his detentions with Umbridge. Having already eliminated the afternoon break, it seems all but impossible for this schedule to fit.

Further, the twins obliquely confirm the 5pm end time in this passage soon after: “ “Right, then. We’re thinking of doing it tomorrow, just after lessons, because it should cause maximum impact if everybody’s in the corridors [...] “You’ll see, little bro,” said Fred, as he and George got up again. “At least, you will if you trot along to Gregory the Smarmy’s corridor round about five o’clock tomorrow.”” (OotP pg 659) So, despite the nonsense in book 4 about getting out early to greet the other schools, in book 5, everyone’s classes end at 5pm.

What this does imply, however, is show that classes end right at 5pm, not at 4:10 as I had them. This means that on the days when Harry rushed to get food before going to his 5pm detention, he would have had to have a free period to do so. However, he can’t have had a free period every day, and we know that on certain days he can’t have had it at all.

When the meeting actually arrives, we get this “He was in such a bad mood by the time that he got to Divination that he had quite forgotten his career appointment with Professor McGonagall, remembering only when Ron asked him why he wasn’t in her office. He hurtled back upstairs and arrived out of breath, only a few minutes late.” (OotP pg 661) This implies that Harry’s 2:30 meeting was actually fairly soon after the start of Divination, as he arrived, spoke to Ron, raced away, and then was only a few minutes late. This implies that Divination itself actually starts around 2:20 or 2:30.

We can add an 8th period to our schedule, which would fit from 4:15-5:00, but then we have four afternoon periods with no break.

Putting Divination into that second slot would mean it starts at 2:20, which would be a decent fit for our career day meeting. However, it would also mean that Divination was the second period after lunch, meaning that the boys have a free period first. Since we have seen more than once that they go straight from lunch to Divination, this also makes no sense. We could, instead move all three afternoon periods later, by basically doubling lunch, but nothing in the frenzy of homework we have seen Harry fret over is there any indication that he has an almost 2 hour long lunch break. Again, the time clues are contradictory to everything else we know or that logically must be.

All of these inconsistencies aside, we have a pretty decent glimpse of the fifth year schedule.

 

Sixth year

In a magical twist of fate, September 2nd was a Monday in 1996, so we are off to a good start.

Unfortunately, we are likely to get less information than in years past, because each student is only taking what they want to NEWT in, not a bulk of core classes.

We actually luck out because, though none of the trio are taking Divination, we get a clue to it early on. The first Monday, as McGonagall is going over their schedules, we are told, “Parvati set off for Divination five minutes later looking slightly crestfallen.” (HBP pg 175) We are also told that moments earlier Hermione “shot off to a first-period Ancient Runes class without further ado.” (HBP pg 173) Clearly both of these classes meet first period on Mondays.

Also of import is that Harry and Ron have a free period, after which we get this line: “An hour later they reluctantly left the sunlit common room” (HBP pg 176). We now know that a period, at least this year, is one hour long. Resetting our schedule accordingly, the first entries look like this:

Now, Ron and Harry’s schedule for Monday is laid out fairly clearly: ““Look,” said Ron delightedly, gazing at his schedule, “we’ve got a free period now ... and a free period after break ... and after lunch ... excellent!”” (HBP pg 175) Thus, these periods cannot contain 6th year Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, Potions, or DADA.

After their first period free, we are told, “An hour later they reluctantly left the sunlit common room for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom four floors below. Hermione was already queuing outside, carrying an armful of heavy books and looking put-upon.” (HBP pg 176)

Thus we learn not only that Runes is a single, but that the trio also have a single of DADA before the morning break.

That same day, “After break, she went off to Arithmancy while Harry and Ron returned to the common room, where they grudgingly started Snape’s homework. This turned out to be so complex that they still had not finished when Hermione joined them for their after-lunch free period (though she considerably speeded up the process). They had only just finished when the bell rang for the afternoon’s double Potions and they beat the familiar path down to the dungeon classroom that had, for so long, been Snape’s.” (HBP pg 182)

A lot to go on here: we learn that Hermione has Arithmancy after the break, and that it appears to be a single period, as they don’t note it as a double like Potions. By removing the fourth period from our morning, we end up with 6 periods getting out at 4:40, which somewhat fits the 5pm issue from the previous book.

Finally, we learn that the period immediately after lunch is a single, and that the later class - Potions - is a double. This implies that the afternoon break must be between the first and second period, so as not to interfere with the double.

Then, we get something odd: “For the rest of the week’s Potions lessons Harry continued to follow the Half-Blood Prince’s instructions wherever they deviated from Libatius Borage’s, with the result that by their fourth lesson Slughorn was raving about Harry’s abilities, saying that he had rarely taught anyone so talented.” (HBP pg 194) This is odd because it implies that they have had NEWT potions four times in a single week, and we know at least one was already a double. This is a huge number of periods - minimum 5 - compared to the usual 2-4. This tells us that the trio has potions almost every day of the week!

After quite a jump, Harry has a meeting with Dumbledore on Monday night. “Harry had Herbology first thing the following morning. He had been unable to tell Ron and Hermione about his lesson with Dumbledore over breakfast for fear of being overheard, but he filled them in as they walked across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses.” (HBP pg 279) With this, we know that they have Herbology first thing on Tuesday, for one or possibly 2 periods.

Before Christmas break when “there was only one more day of lessons to struggle through” we know it must be Thursday night. Harry then is not encouraged with regards to Ron and Hermione’s fighting “after enduring a Transfiguration lesson with them both next day.” (HBP pg 309) Therefore, we knot that at some point on Friday the gang has Transfiguration.

We also get a mere hint with the following: Harry did not answer, but pretended to be absorbed in the book they were supposed to have read before Charms next morning” (HBP pg 304) It is unclear which day this is, but we now know that at least one Charms period is in the morning.

When the students get back from their winter break, the first day back, they learn of the Apparition lessons. If we assume that classes are starting on a Monday, which seems reasonable, we unfortunately get this tangle:

“All that day there was much talk about the forthcoming lessons [..] he flicked his wand a little too enthusiastically, so that instead of producing the fountain of pure water that was the object of today’s Charms lesson, he let out a hoselike jet that ricocheted off the ceiling and knocked Professor Flitwick flat on his face.” (HBP pg 356) This would imply that they have a Charms period on Mondays. However, we already know the boys’ Monday schedule, and there is no room for Charms there. If we assume, however, that the first day back is a Tuesday, or that the furor has continued over a day, then this class slots nicely into our Tuesday morning.

Another clue for Tuesdays comes from Ron regarding Slughorn: ““Won’t refuse you anything, will he? Not his little Potions Prince. Just hang back after class this afternoon and ask him.”” (HBP pg 373) And so we know that one of those three Potions lessons must be on Tuesdays. We also know that it must be the first period, and thus the single, because that very day Slughorn says ““Come on, now, Harry, you’ll be late for your next lesson,” said Slughorn affably, snapping the gold clasps shut on his dragon-skin briefcase.” (HBP pg 379) Note that he is sending Harry off to his next class, rather than dinner.

Much later, we have another post-Potions conversation with the trio. “Harry told Ron and Hermione everything that had happened during next morning’s Charms lesson” (HBP pg 513). Unfortunately, since Potions happens on four of the five days of the week, at least twice in the afternoon that we know of, and we already have a morning Charms class following one of those instances, this would appear to be an unhelpful passage. However, Tuesday morning’s Charms class is after Herbology, which the trio has together. In fact, we know this because they had an important conversation on their way there already. If Harry is telling them what happened in Charms instead of Herbology, this must be a morning that they have that class first. Further, on Tuesdays their Potions class is not the last of the day, meaning that the trio would have already had time to discuss the topic. For this placement to make sense, the Charms period must be first thing in the morning, after either a Wednesday or Thursday late afternoon Potions period.

What’s more, we get this follow-up. “They had one of their rare joint free periods after Charms and walked back to the common room together.” (HBP pg 515) We already know that Hermione often has a different elective during the boys’ free periods, with one “rare” joint one on Mondays. It would appear that the 3rd morning period on either Thursday or Friday is one as well.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book is far more concerned with Malfoy and a potions book than with giving us clues as to the trio’s schedule, as these are the only class references to be found.

And, of course, with the seventh book taking place outside of Hogwarts, that is all best we can do.

 

To recap each year:

At first glance, there are some obvious conflicts, like the second years and, in Harry’s fifth year, the seventh years both starting a Monday with Herbology. Also on a Monday, after lunch, the second years, third years, and sixth years in Harry’s fourth year all have DADA. Not to mention Thursday morning Potions for both third and fifth years.

In short, most years have internal conflicts with their own schedule, the time of day and length of classes is inconsistent from year to year, and the schedules do not seem to carry over from year to year, meaning that knowing Harry’s fifth year classes can’t be used to figure out his first year classes by process of elimination.

That said, I hope that what I have found is helpful for you; it certainly has made me think about how I’m going to do class schedules in my fics from here on. Thanks for sticking with me till the end!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't tell you how many times I almost gave up on this once it came time to post. Living in a post-photobucket-paywall world is murder on embedding images. I don't even want to think about the state of my other stories, let alone my icon journal. *weeps*


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